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Adler
This page only deals with the 4.5×6 models. See also the Adler IV (4×4 model), the Adler Six (6×6 model) and the Olympic page for the Vest Adler, a possible name variant of the Vest Olympic. The Adler The name "Adler" was clearly used to demonstrate Japan's alliance with Germany. During the war period, Riken often used such names (they also sold a Heil camera), or other "patriotic" names. (アドラー) is a series of folding cameras sold from 1938 by Riken or by its depending company Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō. According to the Ricoh corporate site, they were not made by Riken itself but bought to other manufacturers. Most Adler models are vertical 4.5×6 folders. The Adler A and B The Adler A and Adler B have a body exactly similar to the Collex. They have scissor struts inspired by the Zeh Goldi 3×4 camera, a tubular optical finder and two red windows in the back, protected by sliding covers, to control the film advance. says that they are featured in the new products column of the October 1938 issue of Asahi Camera, like the Adler III. According to , the Adler A has an Ukas 75/3.5 lens and a Peerless shutter with T, B, 5–200 speeds, while the Adler B has an Ukas 75/4.5 lens and a Fiskus shutter with T, B, 25–150 speeds. This page of the Ricoh official website disagrees on various points. It says that both versions have a 75/3.5 triplet lens, named Adler on the A and Ukas on the B. This is not very plausible, and the lens name was more likely switched from Ukas (like the lens of the Olympic) to Adler at some later time. The same source also says that the shutters are both everset: a Peerless with three blades and T, B, 5–200 speeds on the A and a Fiskus with two blades and T, B, 25-50-100 speeds on the B. However the Peerless shutter is unlikely to be of the everset type with such a range of speeds, and the Fiskus shutters observed on Olympic cameras have T, B, 25-50-100-150 speeds. One such camera is displayed in a page of the Japan Family Camera website, with an Adler Anastigmat 75/3.5 lens and a Neumann & Heilemann Rulex shutter with 5–200, B, T speeds. It is presented as an Adler B but is most probably a late Adler A. The Adler III and CII The Adler III is a Baldax copy according to the picture shown in and to the text of this page of the Ricoh official website. However the picture on the same page does not show a copy of the Baldax but a copy of the Welta Perle early 4.5×6 model, like the Semi First by Kuribayashi. Both cameras pictured have a folding optical finder. says that it is featured in the new products column of the October 1938 issue of Asahi Camera, like the Adler A and B, and that it is also advertised in the April 1939 issue of Asahi Camera, apparently by Ueno Shōten. There is some confusion about the lens and shutter equipment. mentions an Adler 75/4.5 lens and a Peerless shutter with T, B, 5–200 speeds, but also says that it appears in the book "Kamera nenkan" by Sugiyama and Naoi with an Ukas 75/4.5 and a Rulex B shutter with 1/5 slower speed setting. The page of the Ricoh official website mentions an Adler 75/4.5 triplet lens and a Rulex shutter in #0 size, with three blades and T, B, 5–150 speeds, while mentions an Ukas Anastigmat 75/4.5 lens and a Heil shutter with T, B, 5–200 speeds. To add to the confusion, the example pictured in has a shutter plate marked HEIL. It is probable that all the Adler III had a 75/4.5 lens, first called Ukas and later Adler. They had a shutter with T, B, 5–150 or 5–200 speeds, sometimes the Rulex by Neumann & Heilemann and sometimes called Peerless or Heil. Maybe the latter shutters are only rebadged variants of the Rulex. There is some confusion again about the Adler CII. According to this page of the Ricoh official website, it is like the Adler III with better specifications: a body release, an Adler 75/3.5 triplet lens and a Peerless T, B, 5–200 shutter. Another difference cited by this source is that the finder is on the opposite side of the body. That is supported by the picture showing a Baldax copy with a folding optical finder and a body release on the left side of the body, the same side as the winding knob. The date given is 1938 and the original price is ¥58. The Adler CII is advertised in January 1941 by Riken Kōgaku Kōgyō, together with the Gaica II and the Roico II. It is offered with a four-element 75/3.5 lens and a T, B, 5–150 shutter, both with unspecified name, but it is not pictured and no price is mentioned. The advertisement says that the shutter release automatically retracts into the body when folding the bed. A camera identified as an Adler CII has also been reported with the Peerless T, B, 5–200 shutter and a 75/3.5 Solar lens in this page Photoethnography website. Another variant is advertised in Britain in 1938 Advertisement for the Olympic and Semi Adler, published in the 1938 edition of the British Photography Journal Almanac as the Semi Adler, together with various Olympic cameras. The advertisement is inserted by Asahi Bussan, the distributor of the Olympic, and it does not mention Riken. The camera is a Baldax copy with no body release and a folding optical finder on the right of the body, similar to the Adler III pictured by . It is embossed Adler in the front leather and has an Ukas Anastigmat f/4.5 lens and a T, B, 150-100-50-25 shutter marked New Olympic with the AB logo for Asahi Bussan, as on some Olympic models. The same advertisement says that shutters with T, B, 1–250 speeds and f:3.5 lenses can be supplied on request. At last, shows a picture of an Adler Semi, copy of the Ikonta 4.5×6 with a folding optical finder, a body release and a Neumann & Heilemann Perfekt shutter. Notes Printed bibliography * Items 5–7 and 53. * Page 828. * The British Journal Photographic Almanac 1938, edited by Arthur J. Dalladay, published by Henri Greenwood & Co., Ltd., London Links In English: * Adler C at Photoethnography In Japanese: * Ricoh camera list at the Ricoh official website, with: ** Adler A & B ** Adler III ** Adler CII ** an article about Riken wartime camera names * Adler B page and repair notes at Japan Family Camera Category: Japanese 4.5x6 viewfinder folding Category: Ricoh Category: A